House Democrats will put a bill on the floor Thursday allocating $1.3 billion in additional funding for border security rather than $5 billion President Donald Trump wants, as they don't want to "pay a $5 billion ransom note for a medieval border wall," House Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries said Wednesday.

"We're going to allocate $1.3 billion in additional funding to allow for enhanced technology, cell phone towers, satellites, drones, enhanced fencing, increased communication capability, the things that the experts have said are necessary to improve border security," the New York representative told CNN's "New Day."

"We also want to make sure that we can conduct ourselves in a humane fashion on the border. Never again should we see two young innocent children killed on the border in U.S. custody."

Trump has called for a wall made of steel slats, but Jeffries called the president's proposal both "medieval" and ridiculous.

There are parts of the border where walls and fencing need enhacing, said Jeffries, and he agreed that Democrats could consider building some kind of barrier in unsecured areas, depending on the costs.

"We will have to see what the particulars are as it relates to the justification for advanced, additional fencing along a 2,000 mile border," said Jeffries. "But in terms of a political promise that Donald Trump made during the campaign and is trying to now extract from the American taxpayers, that's completely unreasonable."

Trump is to meet with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Pelosi and likely new House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday, and Jeffries called that a "modest step in the right direction."